(Re)Introducing...

Elizabeth Sara Hamilton

Emily quickly nicknamed her Lizzie.

Rachel nicknamed her Isabelle????

And Hannah still calls her Baby.

Yes, Jon and I did have plenty of time (9 months as plenty of you have pointed out) to choose a name, but I really liked choosing a name for her while I held her and looked at her with no pressure (except from caring family and friends!!!). We're excited about her name and are now happy to share it with all of you!

She's Here!

Here she is--Baby Hamilton! (Look for her name in another post--the UK allows us 6 weeks until we need to turn her name in!!!) We arrived at the hospital at 9:15 am and she was born at 9:08 pm Friday night in London. She weighed 3.538 kg (7 lbs. 8 oz.) and measured 50 cm (20 1/2"). She's beautiful and enjoyed sleeping most of the day today. She even slept through Hannah yelling "Boo!" at her several times and Rachel poking her face and all three girls trying to see her at once.

Grandma, Grandpa and the girls rode the train into London this afternoon to come visit the baby at the hospital. The girls sang some beautiful songs to their sleepy sister--Happy Birthday, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The Eensy Weensy Spider.

Here she is minutes old. Her delivery was my longest one at 8 minutes.

I love watching Jon with our new babies! She opened her eyes when he spoke to her and he could get her to calm down so quickly.

I am happy to say that after my rant about the hospital in my last post that our experience was positive. The midwives were very kind and helpful and for the most part things were similar to what we knew in America. That said, though, I was ready to come home tonight--so we came home from the hospital about an hour ago and are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight.

When I've had more sleep I'll post more details and pictures. Night!

A Bit (okay a long bit) of a Rant

It's been awhile since I have pondered life in England. I feel like this is my home and have pretty much accepted the way things are with a general positive attitude. I laughed when the manager of the grocery had never heard of cilantro and asked me how to spell it and what it was used for and then told me, "If we don't carry it, no one does." I laughed when I bought "desiccated coconut" that made me miss my sweet, shredded coconut. I am enjoying the lack of stop signs and minimal stop lights and can cruise around the round-a-bouts with the best of them. I love the girls' school, I'm not as aware of my accent when I talk and so on.
All general positive feelings came to a halt last week when Jon and I visited the ever-coveted Portland Hospital (coveted by the people who use the National Health Service). I'm trying to blame it all on exhaustion and hormones, but my first reaction was, "When can I start crying, and why didn't I go back to America to deliver???" The funny thing is that all the British people I have spoken with were not surprised we had gone private. They knew enough about the American health care system to know that if we had gone with the NHS we would have been very disappointed--it's just a different standard of care. There's a sense of pride that everyone has health care coverage, but there's not anything outstanding about the coverage or the facilities. So, we went private thinking that we would at least be equal with what we had experienced in America. That was my first mistake. But I was willing to go with the flow. Let's just start with my doctor's appointments--and keep in mind that we went up a level of care by going private. At the appointments my blood pressure is taken by the doctor and then he listens to the heartbeat and feels around to make sure there's still a baby and then the rest of the appointment is just talk (sometimes about the baby, but usually not). No internal exam, no weight taken, no urine test, just very simple and casual. For me that was fine--I have a good history of being pregnant, good genes and have felt very healthy throughout the pregnancy. Because UK doctors don't have the fear of being sued by every patient, only the absolutely necessary things are done as opposed to the American doctors who have to administer more tests to cover themselves. Jon thinks that because the doctor's fees are very, very high that there should be more done during the appointments.
For some reason, though, in my head the hospital had higher expectations. You'd think that a hospital that delivers ambassadors' and celebrities' babies would be a beautiful hospital with spa-like rooms. Disappointingly, the hospital is very basic and old looking. The rooms had rust- colored carpets and nothing fancy. There was a private bathroom (thankfully!), a fan on the countertop (maybe that's the "air-conditioning" advertised) and the window was open to the very loud city traffic below (maybe that's the "home from home environment" advertised). All the moms I have spoken with who have delivered in the NHS hospitals think I am spoiled--which admittlingly, I am. I cringe to think of what the non-private hospitals are like. I know that the moms are all in one big room together with their babies, so it's loud with no privacy. They go home within 24 hours just so they can rest. I have always felt like the hospital is my moment of rest before I go home to normal life.
We went to the hospital to meet with a midwife so she could take down our history that we have given who knows how many times (no health professional who I have seen has anything electronic or even forms--it's all just written down on scratch paper!!!). She was a very nice Irish lady, but we left feeling overwhelmed by how much we realized we didn't know. I felt like we had talked to many people and had asked a lot of questions, but a week away from delievering and I was still learning how different the experience was going to be. This may all seem inconsequential, but it felt like a lot to learn all at once. The baby is bathed after I bond with her for at least 6 hours. (My thinking is I can bond with her much better once she is washed clean!) The hospital pediatrician will check her out while we stay there, but all tests and shots are given 5 days after delivery by a midwife who comes to our house. (Pediatricians are seen if a child needs a specialist, but the baby is seen by a midwife at our house for the first week and then I take her to well baby clinics in a small room with all the other moms and the midwife just goes around giving shots.) Seeing that Rachel's congenital hypothyroidism was discovered in the hospital I guess I feel a sense of urgency for the new baby to have her blood tested as soon as possible and on medication quickly if needed. The epidural is a walking epidural (I might like that), the pain medicines are administered a little differently and some other things we discovered which led me to several phone calls the next day with my doctor's office.
Luckily, we found a good little restaurant down the block from the hospital and Jon and I were able to have a nice dinner and try and eat our disappointments away. It's all about expectations, isn't it? I'm calmer now that I have altered my expectations and am once again focusing more on what's the same as opposed to what's different. I do much better when I have low or no expectations. I'll look back on this and have a good laugh, right? because it's not about me being spoiled in luxury and having everything I want and am accustomed to, but is my baby taken care of and healthy? Don't you just want to tell me to get my priorities straight?! :)

Pre-Delivery Update

My lack of recent postings can all be attributed to the fact that I have finally slowed down! I'm sad about that, but also I'm excited that I feel ready to have this baby and progress to the next stage of being uncomfortable and in pain. So, here is the plan. My due date is Sept. 20th--the same day Jon's parents fly in. My doctor had me scheduled for a Sept. 26th induction, but I am done and ready and because I get to say when my babies are born we bumped up the induction to Sept. 21st at 9:30 am. Several kind neighbors and friends from church have volunteered to be back up in case this baby decides to come before. It would be 'funny' if I go into labor on my own next Tuesday while Jon is at an out-of-town meeting. But I am prepared--I have a plan. My plan is he can meet me at the hospital while I take the train in! It's a 45 minute drive and I wouldn't want to get stuck in traffic. :) I am hoping this baby will be content enough with the exciting story of being born in London at a famous hospital (the only private hospital in London--many famous women have given birth at The Portland Hospital).

Do we have a name picked out?
No, unless you count Baby.

Do we have a list of names?
Yes, Jon has his list, I have mine, Emily has hers and Rachel agrees with Emily's and Hannah thinks we all have babies inside us named Baby.

Are the girls excited?
Now that we know the due date we are all doing a countdown. All three girls helped set up all the baby stuff and Hannah loves to play with the swing, bouncy and car seat which looks so cute and I think "Ahh, she'll love having a baby around." But then when I told Hannah the baby was sleeping (she was playing a little too rough around me) she screamed "Boo" into my belly and then laughed. Hilarious now, but maybe not so funny in a few weeks!

One More Trip!

We were able to fit in one more trip! To fully appreciate this blog entry "Bath" must be said with a British accent--Emily reminds us if we slip and say it with an American accent! It enhances the experience. :)

Bath is a must-see city in England and I would love to go back and explore more of the city (sans kids and sans contractions). It's a beautiful city known for its hot springs and many historic buildings. We drove around the town, toured the Roman and Medieval baths and enjoyed the street entertainers in the town center.

Em and Ray were entertained by the kid audio tour and scavenger hunt game. Hannah was not amused in the backpack, but liked running around when she was let loose.

500-year old beautiful, huge Gothic church

Hannah and Em catching up on some zzzz's and Ray catching up on some reading after leaving Bath.

Our next stop was Wookey Hole Caves--a very cool cave with a river and a 50,000 year history of cave dwellers. Nowadays it houses aging cheddar (with quite the aroma) and a few bats.

Visiting the King Kong and Dinosaur Park outside the caves. We weren't quite sure of the King Kong connection to the caves, but it made for a fun climbing area for the girls. Maybe King Kong fossils were found in the area next to the dinosaur fossils????

Ray and Emi as Neanderthals

There were several kids' play areas that the kids (and Jon) enjoyed. One of their favorites was the Pirate Zap Zone. Em and Jon had some pretty fun ball fights. Ray and Hannah liked having their balls sucked up in the cannons and tubes.

We ended in a cool mirror maze. Poor Hannah kept chasing after us and running into the mirror walls! It wasn't nice to laugh, but it was funny! She learned to walk through the maze holding hands with someone.

All in all a fun trip. The drive was 'lovely'--tight country roads, ancient houses right next to the roads, sheep and cows in beautiful English fields. I love driving through England and feel like such a city girl being amazed at the country sites.

Do you think we can squeeze in one more trip before the baby comes????